Police Board orders firing of cop in bartender beating case

December 15, 2009

The Chicago Police Board has ordered the firing of an officer caught on an infamous videotape throwing a female bartender to the floor and repeatedly punching and kicking her.

In a unanimous decision, the board found Anthony Abbate guilty of aggravated battery and other charges in connection with the Feb. 19, 2007, incident at a Northwest Side bar. He also was found guilty of striking a customer at the bar numerous times.

Abbate already has been convicted in criminal court of felony aggravated battery.

Last month, the police board began official proceedings to remove Abbate from the department, airing about 30 minutes of video showing the disgraced officer showboating and harassing patrons of the bar.

The recording -- played around the world -- largely had been seen in snippets of less than a minute and without sound. But as the board began considering the case, city attorneys aired lengthy portions of the recording to highlight how events unfolded at Jesse's Short Stop Inn in the afternoon and evening of Feb. 19, 2007.

During two visits to the bar, Abbate consumed large quantities of alcohol and persistently harassed and physically abused patrons and the bartender, Karolina Obrycka, according to the attorneys and the charges filed against him by Police Superintendent Jody Weis.

Abbate invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at least 75 times during questioning by city attorney Anna L. D'Ascenzo, who repeatedly asked Abbate to identify himself on the recording.

"You pounce on Karolina Obrycka," said D'Ascenzo, referring to the video. "You throw her to the ground. ... You grab fistfuls of hair."

Michael Malatesta, Abbate's attorney, said Abbate could not comment about the beating because of a pending civil lawsuit by Obrycka. But Malatesta called the beating an "isolated, uncharacteristic incident."

He also called the hearing a formality, considering that Abbate cannot serve as a police officer with a felony conviction. "There is no getting around it," he said.

A spokeswoman for the city's Law Department said the charges against Abbate were filed before the criminal conviction and that only the Police Board can make the decision to fire Abbate.

The scenes caught on the recording alternate from a typical gathering at a local tavern with men calling out for the next round as the Empire Today commercial airs in the background and Abbate sings "Desperado" to the jukebox. An agitated Abbate punches one friend and tosses another to the ground in apparent anger over a remark made about his dog.

Later that evening, he attacked Obrycka, who tried to thwart Abbate from coming behind the bar. Earlier in the recording, Abbate sang "Sweet Caroline" to Obrycka and the two appear to have civil exchanges, according to D'Ascenzo and the video. But by the time Abbate charges around the bar, a determined Obrycka yelled repeatedly for Abbate to get out from behind the bar.

Obrycka took the stand and watched the video that shows her being punched, beaten, pushed and yanked by the hair by the 13-year officer. "I heard him say, 'Nobody will tell me what to do,'" Obrycka said. "I believe the only thing I said ... I said, 'Stop.'"